For Him
by lulamae-golightly
Summary: Post IICY? Daria finds out Trent has died and tries to deal with it.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Daria and its characters belong to MTV.**

It was six-thirty on a Friday morning in August. Daria, about to be a junior in college, shot awake when she heard the phone's ring pierce her eardrums. "Goddamn it," she groaned, picking up the phone. "What?' she asked.

"Hey," she heard Jane's voice on the other line. "Can you come over?"

"It's six thirty in the morning, Jane."

Her friend sighed heavily. "I know, but I need to tell you something." as she said that, Daria thought she heard her friend's voice crack. Something was clearly wrong.

"Alright," she agreed. "Give me about fifteen minutes and I'll be over there."

"Take your time," Jane replied, and Daria could tell she was on the verge of breaking down. She quickly hung up the phone and jumped out of bed, throwing on an outfit and brushing her hair. As she did this, thoughts ran through her head of what could be wrong with Jane. Maybe her mom died. _Oh._ That was probably it! Her mom had died. Oh, poor Jane.

When she arrived at her friend's doorstep, she saw that her eyes were red with tears. "You've been crying." she said softly.

"No, I haven't," Jane protested weakly, then lead her into the living room. They both sat down on the couch. An awkward silence hung in the air for a minute, but to them it seemed like an hour. Finally, Jane squeezed her eyes shut and said, "Trent's dead."

Daria swore her blood ran cold the minute her friend said that. "No, he's not." she quickly replied. "Trent isn't dead. That's not possible. You're lying. You're trying to scare me. No. Trent isn't dead. _Trent isn't dead, damn it!_"

"Daria," Jane silenced her. "Last night, my brother got in a car accident. A drunk driver rammed into the side of his car. He was with a few of his friends. They're all fine, one of 'em has a concussion, but everyone else is good. Trent…he…I guess he wasn't so lucky."

"That's not true," Daria replied coldly. "I don't believe you." she said, though she very well did.

"I'm so sorry." Jane murmured.

Her friend's brows furrowed. "Why are _you _sorry? I should apologize to you! You lost a brother!"

"You lost a friend," Jane pointed out.

"I lost an old crush. Nothing more." Daria chewed on the inside of her cheek nervously.

After another moment of quiet, Jane asked, "Did you love him?"

Her bespectacled friend looked her in the eye. "To be completely honest…I don't really know. I say it was just a crush, but when I saw him during this previous summer, we really got to talking to each other more, and it was nice…I thought maybe there could've been something between us, but…school started up again, and college kept me way too busy. I couldn't keep in touch with him."

"You talked to him a little this summer," the raven-haired girl replied.

"A little," Daria agreed. "But not much."

"So did you love him? Did you love Trent?" Jane asked again. Daria sucked in a breath, then exhaled.

"Maybe. Maybe I did. I don't know." And finally, she let herself cry. She sobbed, her head falling into her best friend's lap as she gently patted her back. When her sobs finally died down, she took another breath and attempted a weak smile.

"Do you wanna go get pizza?" Jane asked.

"Why are you thinking of pizza right now?" Daria chuckled a little.

She shrugged in reply. "I dunno. Emotions make me hungry. And besides, I think that's what Trent would want us to do."

"Go out for pizza?"

"Yeah. He wouldn't want us to dwell on his death and moan and cry about it all the time. He would want us to live a little. He did plenty of it himself. Trust me, I know." Jane pushed herself off the couch, helping Daria up too.

"Okay. For him."

A small smile turned up the corner of Jane's lips. "Yeah. For Trent."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I was just gonna make this story one chapter at first but I thought I needed to write an epilogue of sorts. As always, Daria belongs to MTV.**

Not many were in attendance at the funeral . Jane brought Daria along, knowing Trent would want her there too. Jane begrudgingly walked up to the microphone to give a speech about him.

"My brother was always someone who just didn't care what other people thought. He was someone who I looked up to as a kid. He taught me to be my own person. And...I know it sounds really cheesy, but I wish I could've thanked him when he was still around. Thanks, Trent." upon that, she dashed off the podium, trying to fight back her tears.

After the rest of the Lane family spoke, Daria nervously walked up. "Um...Jane has been my best friend for a long time, and I met Trent through her. At first I didn't really know what to say around him, but then I found out that he really understood me. He became someone I could talk to, and I wish I could've gotten to know him a little more." she nodded solemnly and walked off.

As the guests walked off, the two friends stood at his open coffin. "He doesn't look too beat up," Daria noticed.

"Nah, he doesn't. But they fixed him up before they put him in here. He looked much worse." Jane replied. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Listen, I'm really sorry," her friend awkwardly wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"We already went through this. He wouldn't want us to dwell like this." Jane's eyes fluttered open.

Daria shook her head. "I know." And, to her surprise, she found herself reaching out and touching Trent's face cautiously. She gasped, realizing that he was cold. Still, she grazed her fingers over his chin.

"You know how you said you didn't know if you loved him the other day?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure that you don't know?"

Tears fell from her eyes onto Trent. "Damn you, Jane. I don't know. I swear I don't know. It's not something you can just..." she inhaled sharply and made a sobbing sound. "I'm sick of crying, Jane."

"I am too. Sometimes I think my eyes will eventually run dry."

Daria didn't reply, but instead leaned down and kissed Trent on the forehead. "Let's go."

Her friend's eyes were wide. "Why did you do that?"

"Sometimes you just feel compelled to do something. Let's go do something."

Jane smirked. "I don't think I'll ever understand some things that you do, Daria."

"That's usually for the best." They walked out together, both of them turning to give the coffin one more glance before leaving it behind forever.


End file.
